….simple, little things that cut down on new teachers’ stress

          Ask 10 new teachers how they are, and you’re likely to get 10 explanations that all boil down to the same thing : Stressed!  Stress, and feeling as though they have no one to help them through it, are major contributing factors to teachers leaving the profession early in their careers.  How can you and your experienced colleagues help?  Sometimes, the ‘little things’ mean the most……..

Offer to take bus duty for a week (especially during portfolio development).

1. Introduce the new teacher to the school secretary and custodian, and explain exactly how they can help the new teacher.
2. With a colleague, model a ‘typical’ parent conference so the new teacher knows what to expect.
3. With a colleague, model a ‘difficult’ parent conference, giving the new teacher ideas of how to handle different kinds of responses from parents.
4. As a team member, mentor, etc. offer to sit with a new teacher the first time s/he meets with a parent.
5. Help the new teacher by sharing forms you’ve developed for communicating with parents, giving recognition to students, etc.
6. Each day for the first week of school, check with the new teacher at the end of the day – ask him/her what one thing went really well (giving recognition for this), and what one big question (if any) the new teacher has that you can answer.
7. With other teachers in your building, department, or grade level, bring your new colleague(s) coffee and bagels once a month, and spend 15-20  minutes before school begins to chat and answer questions.
8. With colleagues who have lunch at different times, organize ‘new teacher chat-lunches,’ when they can casually talk with more experienced colleagues about one specific thing, such as how best to handle days that have a delayed start due to inclement weather.  Hold these lunches every couple of weeks.
9. With other teachers in your building, department, or grade level, go out for a drink or coffee after school one Friday a month, and spend an hour relaxing, talking, and offering support.
10. Gently encourage your new colleagues to avoid taking on extra activities during their first couple years of teaching.
11. Going to get some supplies from the closet or secretary?  Ask your new colleague next door if you can pick up any for him/her.
12. Before the first time report cards are due, offer to review your school’s report card with your new colleague(s) to answer their questions.
13. At the beginning of the school year, offer to sit with your new colleague(s) to talk about ways to set up a grade book and/or lesson plan book.
14. Offer to share bulletin board materials and ideas with your new colleagues.
15. As a local association, give your new colleagues a ‘gift basket’ of extra things they’ll find useful in the classroom – stickers for students, extra pencils, stencils for creating bulletin boards, etc.
16. As a grade level, department, or school team (depending on the size of your school and the number of new teachers you have in any year) offer to cover one class each month for your new colleague, so s/he can observe another teacher.
17. Let your new colleague(s) know if you’ve recently completed a BEST portfolio and are available to answer questions.
18. If you and your new colleagues share materials for teaching units or lessons to your students, make a point to try to be flexible as to when you’ll want to use those materials.  Seek out your newer colleagues and suggest you plan together so you can coordinate your schedules and avoid conflicts of wanting to use the materials at the same time.
19. Early in the school year, make a point to introduce your new colleague(s) to other members of your grade level, department, and building staff.  Let them know they are welcome and you want them to feel comfortable in your school.
20.  Avoid reminding new teachers that “When I was a new teacher…”  They know things were different then and they know you may have entered the profession with little or no support, but that should encourage you to make more of an effort to provide support to them so they’ll be successful and want to stay in the profession.  Don’t get trapped in thinking that they should have to ‘jump through the same hoops’ as you did as they enter the profession.

And for those new teachers who are working on developing their portfolios…..

1. If you know how to run the video tape equipment in your school or district, offer to do so for a new teacher to help him/her learn how to work with a class that’s being videotaped and/or during the time the portfolio is being developed.
2. If you don’t know how to run the video equipment, offer to help the new teacher find someone who does, and make introductions.
3. Develop a list of teachers in your school and district who have successfully completed portfolios and would be willing to help new colleagues in some way.
4. Help new teachers working on their portfolios make connections with teachers who have recently completed portfolios.
5. Have you earned National Board Certification?  Perhaps you can work with your new teachers on writing reflection commentaries.
6. If you know your newer colleague is videotaping on a particular day, make a point to remind the office staff that his/her class should not be disturbed during that time.
7. Offer to help the teacher by photo-copying his/her portfolio when copies need to be made.
8. Offer to double-check the portfolio contents against the portfolio checklist to make sure everything is included.
9. Organize a ‘pool’ of experienced colleagues who would be willing to take turns taking new teachers’ after-school duties (bus duty, detention, homework club) during the time the new teacher is teaching the unit that is the focus of the portfolio.
10.  Try to assure that, after the new teacher has completed teaching the portfolio unit, the principal approves a professional day so s/he can work on compiling it without interruption.
11.  Have you scored portfolios?  Offer to review a new teacher’s portfolio in your area of expertise, and make any suggestions that will help improve it.

AND ABOVE ALL ELSE…..

12.  On a daily basis, ask the new teacher what you can do to help him/her through the portfolio process, and suggest things you would be willing to do to ease their responsibilities

From the Connecticut Education Association:  www.cea.org